Spraying assembly, and sprayer equipped with at least one such assembly

Abstract

A spraying assembly is provided. The spraying assembly includes at least one nozzle for liquid that is to be sprayed, and at least one active substance injector which is situated directly upstream from the at least one nozzle and to which liquid to be sprayed is supplied by a pump or a pressurized reservoir, with interposition of an obturator on a conduit connecting the pump or the pressurized reservoir to the injector. The spraying assembly also includes an outlet valve for each injector designed to close each outlet orifice. The present invention avoids overdosing or underdosing of the product that is to be sprayed as active substance.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A spraying assembly comprising:
 at least one spray nozzle for a liquid to be sprayed; 
 at least one active substance injector for injecting an active substance into the liquid, the at least one injector having an outlet orifice; 
 a pump or a pressurized reservoir supplying active substance to the at least one injector; 
 a conduit connecting the at least one injector to the pump or pressurized reservoir; 
 an obturator interposed on the conduit between the least one injector and the pump or pressurized reservoir; 
 an outlet valve, located downstream of the injector and directly upstream of the nozzle, for each of the at least one injectors designed to close the outlet orifice of the injector; 
 a spraying ramp; 
 wherein the at least one nozzle and the at least one injector are mounted on a same body or two adjacent bodies; 
 wherein the body or the two adjacent bodies define a chamber which communicates with the at least one nozzle and with the outlet orifice of the at least one active substance injector; and 
 wherein the body or each body is mounted on the spraying ramp. 
 
     
     
       2. The assembly according to  claim 1 , wherein the each outlet valve is a needle adapted to come alongside a seat formed at the outlet orifice. 
     
     
       3. The assembly according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one nozzle and the at least one injector are mounted on said same body or said two adjacent bodies, a mixture of the liquid to be sprayed with the active substance occurring through turbulence in the same body or the two adjacent bodies. 
     
     
       4. The assembly according to  claim 1 , wherein a plurality of active substance injectors are situated directly upstream from the at least one nozzle. 
     
     
       5. The assembly according to  claim 4 , further comprising a further ramp which includes a plurality of air injectors for injecting air into each of the plurality of active substance injectors supplied with active substance. 
     
     
       6. A method for cleaning a spraying assembly according to  claim 5 , comprising the steps of:
 injecting a quantity of air into each active substance injector in a direction countercurrent from a direction of flow of the active substance in the injector, and 
 pushing part of the active substance that is present in the injector and upstream back toward the pump or pressurized reservoir for the active substance. 
 
     
     
       7. The assembly according to  claim 1 , further comprising a remote control for remotely controlling and actuating the at least one injector or each outlet valve. 
     
     
       8. The assembly according to  claim 7 , wherein the at least one injector includes a pump of ceramic, electromagnetic, piezoelectric or peristaltic type. 
     
     
       9. A sprayer comprising:
 at least one spraying assembly according to  claim 1 ; 
 at least one primary liquid conduit designed to supply the at least one nozzle with liquid to be sprayed, and 
 at least one secondary conduit designed to supply the at least one injector with active sub stance. 
 
     
     
       10. The sprayer according to  claim 9 , wherein the at least one nozzle and the at least one injector are mounted on said same body or said two adjacent bodies, a mixture of the liquid to be sprayed with the active substance occurring through turbulence in the same body or the two adjacent bodies and wherein the at least one secondary conduit includes secondary conduits respectively supplying each of the at least one injectors. 
     
     
       11. The sprayer according to  claim 9 , further comprising at least one regulator for keeping the pressure of the liquid to be sprayed constant directly upstream of the at least one nozzle. 
     
     
       12. The sprayer according to  claim 11 , wherein a plurality of regulators maintain the pressure of the liquid to be sprayed by a plurality of nozzles, the plurality of regulators being actuated individually and independently of each other. 
     
     
       13. The sprayer according to  claim 9 , further comprising an assembly where the at least one nozzle and the at least one injector are mounted on said same body or said two adjacent bodies, a mixture of the liquid to be sprayed with the active substance occurring through turbulence in the same body or the two adjacent bodies, and a regulator for regulating the flow rate of active substance in the body or the two adjacent bodies. 
     
     
       14. The sprayer according to  claim 13 , wherein each regulator for regulating the flow rate can be actuated individually and independently. 
     
     
       15. The sprayer according to  claim 9 , further comprising a regulator adapted to regulate the flow rate of active substance in each of the at least one injectors as a function of a displacement speed of the sprayer or a state of a plant surface to be treated. 
     
     
       16. The sprayer according to  claim 9  wherein the at least one injector includes a pump or a piezoelectric, electromagnetic or peristaltic valve, and the sprayer includes a controller adapted to vary an operating speed of the pump or the valve so as to drive a flow rate thereof. 
     
     
       17. The sprayer according to  claim 9 , wherein the at least one secondary conduit includes at least one secondary conduit adapted to convey a first type of active substance- or a plurality of secondary conduits adapted to convey a plurality of types of active substances. 
     
     
       18. The sprayer according to  claim 17 , wherein the first type of active substance is an herbicide and the second type of active substance is an insecticide, a fungicide, or a wetting agent. 
     
     
       19. The sprayer according to  claim 9 , wherein the at least one primary conduit includes at least one valve to control circulation of the liquid to be sprayed and the at least one secondary conduit includes at least one obturator to control circulation of the active substance, the at least one valve and the at least one obturator being able to be actuated remotely. 
     
     
       20. The spraying assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the sprayer is an agricultural sprayer. 
     
     
       21. A spraying assembly comprising:
 a spray nozzle for spraying an active-substance-containing liquid on an agricultural product; 
 one or more active substance injectors for injecting active substances into a liquid to form the active-substance-containing liquid, each injector having an outlet orifice; 
 a respective pump or a respective pressurized reservoir connected to, and supplying active substance to, each of the one or more injectors by a respective conduit; 
 each conduit having an obturator interposed between said each respective injector and said each pump or pressurized reservoir; 
 a respective outlet valve located on an outlet side of each injector, for closing the outlet orifice of said each injector; 
 a spraying ramp; 
 wherein the nozzle and the one or more injectors are mounted on a same body, 
 wherein said same body defines a chamber, the chamber having an outlet connected directly to the nozzle, the chamber having, for each of the one or more injectors, a respective inlet directly connected to the outlet orifice of said each injector, and having a further inlet connected to a source of the liquid, the active-substance-containing liquid being formed in the chamber; and 
 wherein the body is mounted on the spraying ramp. 
 
     
     
       22. The spraying assembly of  claim 21  further comprising a primary conduit, the primary conduit having an outlet connected to the further inlet, the primary conduit supplying the liquid to the chamber. 
     
     
       23. The spraying assembly of  claim 21 , further comprising a further pump or pressurized reservoir connected to the further inlet, for supplying the liquid to the primary conduit. 
     
     
       24. The spraying assembly of  claim 23 , wherein the further pump supplies the liquid at a constant pressure. 
     
     
       25. The spraying assembly of  claim 21 , wherein the one or more active substance injectors include a plurality of active substance injectors. 
     
     
       26. A spraying assembly comprising: a spraying ramp;
 a body or two adjacent bodies, the body or the two adjacent bodies being mounted on the spraying ramp, the body or the two adjacent bodies defining a chamber; 
 at least one spray nozzle for spraying a liquid mounted on the body or one of the two adjacent bodies and communicating with the chamber; 
 at least one injector valve for injecting an active substance into the liquid mounted on the body or one of the two adjacent bodies, the at least one injector valve situated directly upstream from the at least one nozzle and communicating with the chamber, wherein the at least on injector valve includes a needle for controlling fluid communication with the chamber; 
 a pump or a pressurized reservoir supplying active substance to the at least one injector valve; 
 a conduit connecting the at least one injector valve to the pump or pressurized reservoir; and 
 an obturator interposed on the conduit between the least one injector valve and the pump or pressurized reservoir. 
 
     
     
       27. The spraying assembly of  claim 26 , wherein the needle is upstream of the chamber. 
     
     
       28. The spraying assembly of  claim 26 , wherein the sprayer is an agricultural sprayer.